A Look at Solid Hardwood Floors

Solid hardwood floors should neither be installed over a concrete slab nor below ground level because of high moisture sensitivity. Unsightly gaps appear when moisture dries and the floors contract in the winter heating months. The floors expand and gaps disappear during summers. The wood planks may buckle or cup because of excessive moisture.

In view of these facts, enough space should be left for expansion and wood should be acclimated. Nail-down installations are most appropriate for these floors.

 The possibility of re-coating and refinishing increases the life and appearance of solid hardwood floors. Generally solid hardwood floors are made up of ash, maple, red oak and white oak. Solid wood floorings are divided into three sub categories: strip flooring, plank flooring and parquet flooring. Thickness of strip flooring varies between 5/16 inch and ?inch. Available widths are 1 ?inch, 2 inch and 2 ?inch. Though plank flooring is sold in two thicknesses, width can range between 3 inches and 8 inches. Parquet flooring has geometrical patterns that are created with wood slats. Hand-scraped hardwood floors are hand crafted. Character markings on handscraped hardwood floors (hand sculptured floors) are a unique feature. These floors offer the best finishes for either the modern world look or the old reclaimed wood floor look.

 Both engineered and solid hand sculpted floors are sold. Beautiful handscraped hardwood floors are very expensive. Engineered handscraped hardwood floors are best suited for a structure erected on a concrete slab and in high humidity conditions. A few companies also market distressed hardwood flooring that has machine made markings unlike hand made markings in handscraped hardwood floor. Handscraped floor is costlier than distressed version, but both floorings offer a rich look.

Hardwood floors should be cleaned with products recommended by the manufacturer. Regular use of a vacuum cleaner will clean dirt, mud, grit and small stones that may spoil the finish. Welcome mats at the entrance for wiping feet before walking on the floor are of great help in protecting the finish. When choosing furniture for you home, do not buy products with sharp metal or wooden legs to prevent denting and scratching. Use of furniture coasters or felt protectors for all legs will prevent scratching. Non-staining and wide rubber cups are a must for heavy items like piano. The use of a paste wax on the hardwood floor with a polyurethane finish damages the finish. Spills on hardwood floors need immediate attention. Clean them with a paper towel or damp white cloth and dry the area.

Ask for advice from a building inspector about teh hard wood floors, they will teach you how to test the waterproofing and pest control ability of the floor.

31 May 2010
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Cherry Hardwood Flooring – Create a Classic Living Room

Hardwood floors do not come bargain-priced. In point of fact, in comparison to cement and man-made compounds, pure hardwood floors are more expensive, because they derive from an exhaustible resource. It takes years for a tree to be completely mature and ready to be used as building material, but it just requires a couple of hours to ready concrete.

Thus, the reasoning behind purchasing discount hardwood flooring is a some way off. Although, it should console you to know that it is not inconceivable. You can actually purchase real hardwood flooring materials for a lower cost, granted that you realize where to locate them.

One reason Brazilian cherry hardwood flooring is so popular is because of how hard the wood is. This means that it is very durable and will hold up extremely well over a long period of time. We all know that hardwood floors are very popular among many people all over the world. Their durability and ease of cleaning make them a great choice for most people. If you are looking for hardwood floors that will truly last a lifetime, Brazilian Cherry hardwood flooring may well be your answer. Plus, you will have floors that have one of the most beautiful color combinations available.

The web is a haven for discount hardwood flooring information. The’re online hardware and woodwork stores that also provide discounted hardwood flooring. Placed against the regular hardwood floors that are accessible in the marketplace these days, these materials are around 30% to 40% less costly. Thus, if you are working with a tight budget, you can scour the web for them.

You may also want to look into local hardware stores to watch if they are putting a few of their earlier hardwood flooring stocks up at a discount.Because the production of hardwood flooring is a never-ending process, new stocks regularly come in. And when these new stocks arrive, the existing stocks will normally be pushed back and, eventually, sold off at a reduced rate.

If your are looking to give your home an elegant look and find a great solution for your space then the Brazilian cherry flooring hardwood type is just the thing for you. Cherry floors are very hard and heavy making them wear resistant. Since cherry wood is about twice as hard as oak and repels moisture, it is a multipurpose flooring that can be used in hallways, entryways, kitchens and even bathrooms.

Are you agreeable to obtaining used hardwood flooring materials? See, there are establishments that renovate and change to concrete, establishing their hardwood floors, although still hardy, useless. But as opposed to throwing them out, some owners choose to trade them at a deduction. These might be a little challenging to locate but, hey, who knows, somebody in your neck of the woods could be doing this.

Brazilian cherry floors are one of the most sought after types of flooring in the United States. One of the reasons that Cherry flooring has lasted the test of time is its natural look and feel. Their easy to clean surface will also reduce the cost of hiring carpet cleaning services. The only tools you will need to maintain your wood’s life is a broom and a mop.

Buying hardwood floors at a discount does not mean that you are settling for poorer grade. The grade of these materials remains identical, only that their vender in all probability has something fresher or would love to shift to another kind of building material. So, if you happen upon discount hardwood flooring, jump at the opportunity at once. Of course, before you make any purchases, check the material’s history first and scrutinize for any indications of decay and wear

 

2 Feb 2010
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Have It Easy With Prefinished Hardwood Flooring

Let's admit it. Installing hardwood flooring is quite a task and not many do it yourselfers succeed perfectly during their first try. True, installing hardwood flooring is a skill, but it can be less of a chore and a headache if you go with prefinished hardwood flooring in the first place. Prefinished means it has already been coated and sealed with translucent film which serves as its protection from daily wear. What finishings can do is shield your hardwood floor from spills and scratches, and make it easier for you to wipe or mop clean. If you're thinking of installing hardwood flooring yourself, you can enjoy the greatest ease and convenience with prefinished planks. With prefinished hardwood floors, the task of nailing the flooring to your subfloor ends after the drilling is done.

If you purchased pure hardwood oak or maple (or whatever is available), you will have to apply finishings, sand it down and put on wax and polishers after. The amount of time to perform the task of installing a hardwood floor is halved if prefinished wood is used. Prefinished floors also have a better finish than most independently finished floors. Because the application is uniform and the volumes of coating controlled and predetermined, you are sure that every prefinished hardwood floor plank is of the best quality. Normally, prefinished floors are thrice sanded and coated with aluminum oxide finish eight times. They are also likely to have been tested for various normal wear situations and made more resilient.

Prefinished flooring is a little more expensive than pure hardwood planks. However, when you do the math on everything that has to be done to make the basic form shine to your liking, you'll actually eventually spend a lot more with the latter, not to mention the heavy labor that you need to put into it. Sure, you can argue that you can always hire professionals to do the job for you, but if cost is an issue, then you’ll be thanking the high heavens that somebody had enough foresight to come up with prefinished hardwood flooring. Be a wise and practical consumer. Sanding and finishing entire floorings is a thing of the past. Now that prefinished floors are available, you should spare yourself from the hassle.

The author is a house painter who concentrates on landscape design, and you can refer to http://roofrepairs.co.nz/

30 Jan 2010
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Get Knowledge About Hardwood Floor Care

Learning about hardwood floor care is very important if you have hardwood floors in your home because of course you are going to want to make them last and keep them looking as best as you can for as long as possible. So in this case, there are a few tips for hardwood floor care in particular that you are going to want to learn and which are going to be helpful to you here.

Tips For Hardwood Floor Care

For hardwood floor care, one of the most important things to remember, which is not the case with say vinyl flooring, is that you are going to have to be very careful with what different products you are using on the floors. You are not going to want to be using products that contain a lot of chemicals, because these may end up wearing away the finish on the floor and leaving them in an unattractive state.

If you wish to be very careful with the products you ar plannng to purchase to use on your hardwood floors, read the label of ingredients before using it on your hardwood floors. If you find that there are any scuffs on the floor, you will usually be able to get rid of these with a fine steel wool, but again you have to be very careful and may just want to leave this up to the professionals to take care of if you are interested in hardwood floor care.

Another helpful hardwood floor care tip is to make sure that you always clean up spills and other messes right away when they happen, and never leave them to sit because they will soak into the wood and be much more difficult if not impossible to get out later on. You never want to let any spills or messes stay on your hardwood floors for longer than absolutely necessary.

A refinishing of your hardwood floors may also be a great idea, but this is not something that you are going to have to worry about if you are just installing new flooring. This is only something that may be done years and years after the floors have been installed, and which would basically just give them a refreshed, new look.

Also there many other great tips as well which you can keep in mind if you want to take proper care of your hardwood floors and make sure that they are going to last.

22 Jan 2010
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Useful Bits Of Guidelines Homeowners Should Follow When Selecting Wood Floor Polish

Once you have gone to the time and expense of installing attractive hardwood floors in your home it makes sense to do what you can to keep them looking great.  A technique to keep them in first-class condition is by using wood floor polish.  When buying wood floor polish there are a few things you’ll need to be conscious of starting with the type of finish you have on your wooden floors.  There are some finishes that shouldn’t be polished so it’s a good idea to read through the instructions supplied with your wood floor.   

The finish of your wood floor needs to be in good shape for you to add polish.  There is an easy test you can use to determine if your wood floor should be polished.  Simply take a pair drops of water and leave them on your floor for two mins.  If the water beads up you know the finish is intact and it is safe to shine.  If the water soaks into the wood you know you must apply new finish to the floor. 

Wood floor polish can be applied either manually or with a machine.  While you can get good results by polishing by hand it’ll take lots of work.  Most of the time it is best to use a machine to apply wood floor polish.  These machines are available at most stores that sell flooring supplies or can be leased from your local gear rental company.  Make sure you apply the right sort of polish for your floor’s finish to avoid causing damage.   

When trying the polish make sure that you don’t apply too much.  Too much wax or floor polish with leave you with floors that are so slick it can be dangerous to stroll on them.  After polishing your floor you can be happy to sweep and mop them following your ordinary schedule.

11 Jan 2010
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Useful Tips To Follow When Choosing Reclaimed Wood Flooring

There are a variety of advantages to choosing reclaimed antique wood flooring over regular new wooden flooring.  One of the biggest reasons people have for selecting reclaimed wood is that it is ecological.  Reclaimed wood is wood that would either finish up in a landfill or get left to decay.  Recycling this wood is a way to preserve the precious resource of our forests and other wood growing habitats.  It also assists in keeping things out of the landfills. 

Another good reason to choose reclaimed wood for your flooring is that it has a unique charm all its own.  Reclaimed wood has a history since it started its life long ago as another thing altogether.  What was a Midwestern barn can be transformed into your modern floor.  The history of the wood gives a character and sophistication to your home that no other new release could possible provide.  The age of the wood also gives it more character with grains, colours, and patinas that cannot be found in recently harvested wood.  

Some of the wood used to make reclaimed antique wood floors is wood that is not used commercially any more .  It’s a responsible way to incorporate a number of these rare woods that just can’t be used anymore such as American chestnut.  Another wood that makes sense to buy reclaimed is teak.  Due to modern protection for this species it is not feasible to find old expansion teak for new products.  Teak timbers that have been harvested from torn down building are a brilliant source of pretty teak flooring. 

Reclaimed antique wood floor permits you to have the look and character of old growth wood without cropping the existing trees which have taken centuries to reach maturity.  There are certain characteristics to old growth wood that just cannot be copied by new expansion like a dense grain and lucidity.  Old expansion wood is lovely and durable.  The only responsible way to get old growth wood nowadays is by installing reclaimed antique wooden flooring.

9 Jan 2010
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Timeless Hardwood Flooring

Hardwood Flooring for timeless beauty and durability

Like all types of floor material,  hardwood flooring has both good elements and some drawbacks. The hardwood floors of today are more durable than ever thanks to the industry’s efforts to always be improving their product.

Hardwood flooring is the Cadillac of floor coverings. They have been in style for a very long time, and will continue to be so far into the future. Genuine hardwood floors have a special beauty and warmth that adds to any decorating style.

This flooring is softer and more resilient than many other flooring products, and holds warmth. It is a softer product though despite it’s name and can be damaged by heavy furniture if protective disks are not used, and care should be taken not to walk on wood floors with athletic shoes that have cleats. High heels with thin spikes can also be a problem.

True hardwood is also subject to some shrinkage when there are drastic temperature or humidity changes. These are self correcting as the humidity decreases and temperatures stabilize. Although there can be some shrinkage, it is usually minimal and may go unnoticed.

Having said that, consider that most inside athletic courts are covered with wood floors. Basketball courts are typically wood. That should speak well of wood floors and their durability.

What exactly is hardwood flooring?
Traditionally a genuine wood floor was made of hardwood such as oak, birch and cherry. Each piece or plank was made from a solid piece of lumber in one of the hardwoods. These pieces were, and are typically 3/4 inches thick, although they are also available in other thicknesses.

Today there are also wood floors that are engineered. These floors are real wood, but it is put together in numerous layers. These layers are joined in a cross-ply construction with glue. This type of flooring has the advantage that it is not susceptible to shrink or expand due to changes in temperature or humidity.

Wood floors come in pre-finished flooring, or on site finished flooring. There has been much controversy about which is better.

With an on site finish the wood gets a final sanding and then has the finish put on. With pre-finished, the finish is applied at the factory and once the floor is installed it is done, and without waiting or having the extra mess or chemicals. Pre-finished actually offers a longer warranty because the factory finish is considered tougher and longer lasting.

With the great variety of finishes offered in pre-finished, there should be a finish to your liking. By selecting pre-finished you will save on installation costs and have your floor ready to use in less time, and get a longer warranty as well.

Proper care for hardwood flooring
Once you have chosen and made your purchase, get proper care instruction from the manufacturer. Never wet mop a hardwood floor, and always clean up any spills right away with a lightly damp cloth. Use only factory recommended products for care and maintenance. With good care you should enjoy your hardwood floor for a lifetime.

3 Jan 2010
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